Police say a German man engaged in cybergrooming and pressured a US teen to kill himself
BERLIN — A 20-year-old man has been arrested in Germany on suspicion of engaging in an online campaign of cybergrooming and virtual sexual abuse of children, including pressuring a 13-year-old American boy to kill himself and livestream the act, authorities said Wednesday.
The German-Iranian man was arrested Tuesday. The man, whose name was not made public in line with German privacy rules , was taken into custody at his parents' apartment in the northern city of Hamburg. Prosecutors have yet to decide whether to bring formal charges. He denied wrongdoing in a closed-doors appearance before a judge, authorities said.
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CNN
43 minutes ago
- CNN
Some fugitives don't get very far, even with a good head start. What complicates their escape?
FacebookTweetLink Follow In the past several months, a number of high-profile manhunts that have captured national attention have ended when the fugitives, despite many hours or days on the run, were found close by. Vance Boelter, who is accused of shooting two state lawmakers and their spouses outside Minneapolis, was found in the woods about a mile from his family home in Green Isle, Minnesota, over the weekend. Last month, half of the 10 inmates who escaped a New Orleans jail were found in the city. And a former Arkansas police chief who escaped prison in May was found 1.5 miles from the facility he'd broken out of 10 days earlier. Meanwhile, Travis Decker, who is accused of killing his three daughters at a campsite about 100 miles east of Seattle, has been on the run for several weeks as law enforcement continues the search over two counties. While there are no formulas for avoiding law enforcement while on the run, factors such as ability to plan ahead of time, access to money and wilderness skills all play a role in how likely they will be able to evade capture, law enforcement experts told CNN. Here is how those factors, and some mistakes, play into the likelihood of escape: Many fugitives tend to stay in areas they know, be it for the people or knowledge of the area, said Donald Lane, who worked as a Secret Service agent and with the Department of Homeland Security for 20 years. 'They're much more comfortable in areas that they know well, geographically and socially, quite frankly, and so they tend to stay close,' he said, adding that many people want to be close to those who might help them evade law enforcement, such as family or friends. The downside to staying close is that's where investigators will look first for a fugitive, said Steve Prosser, a retired US marshal. In one prison escape case he worked on, Prosser said, the inmate didn't have any money or connections to help him. Law enforcement ultimately found him living in the janitor closet of the apartment building where he lived before his arrest. While Boelter wasn't found in a closet, he was found within close range of his house, where he left a car and there was a reported sighting of him on an e-bike. 'Sometimes these folks, they'll plan to take action and do something, but they don't think too much ahead about what they're going to do afterwards,' Lane said. It can be a challenge for fugitives to act quickly enough to get rid of identifying features as law enforcement starts putting up a perimeter, he said. But it also takes a lot of money to leave either the area or the country, said Prosser. 'You have to have a fake passport, which, unlike what you see on TV, is very difficult.' Even getting items that are harder to trace someone with, such as a different car, requires a good amount of money, he added. Another point that a fugitive must consider is how to get around when their name and face may be plastered on local and national news. There is a high likelihood law enforcement agencies will be on the lookout for their car, Lane said. If they get on an interstate, the chances law enforcement or a citizen sees or reports them is even higher, he said. Even trying to steal a car not associated with the fugitive could draw attention, according to Lane. 'A lot of times, they would have to (do) an additional crime to get further away, for instance like a carjacking,' he said. 'And they definitely don't want to do that, and they know they don't. Because if they do, then law enforcement not only would be all over that, but they would know that they're most likely the person that they're seeking.' It really depends on wilderness expertise and access to resources, experts say. 'If someone has knowledge of a wooded area – in other words, they live there, they may have hunted there, they know that area – they can live there for quite a long time, and those are some of the toughest people to locate,' Prosser said. But it really depends on how much preparation they have. While Boelter was found in the woods about a mile from his family home, it is likely his plan was set off course when police found him at state Sen. John Hoffman's home, leading him to retreat and change whatever plan he'd had, he said. Without the right preparation, though, living in the wilderness doesn't often work long-term as 'the situation is something completely and totally different,' Lane told CNN. 'Even if you have survival skills, you're not equipped in the long term to be self-sustaining without the help of other human beings,' he said, saying many people will ultimately need to resurface in society to get things they need. 'It's a great thought that you're going to be able to do it,' Lane said, 'but unless you're Ted Kaczynski and you have an actual dwelling that you can be in, you know that's not going to work out too well for most people.'
Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
California police plead for help amid officer shortage as union boss warns of unprecedented riot ‘onslaught'
LOS ANGELES – As the protests against Los Angeles' immigration raids spread, state law enforcement leaders are sounding the alarm on the dangers facing officers on the front lines of the riots. "I've been around a very long time, and I have seen similar to what we're facing now," Jake Johnson, president of the California Association of Highway Patrolmen (CAHP), told Fox News Digital. "But I've never seen the amount of onslaught." Thousands of protesters descended on Los Angeles in the last two weeks after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers began conducting raids throughout the sanctuary city. The violence included rioters hurling projectiles at law enforcement officers and lighting numerous self-driving electric vehicles on fire. In response to the protests, over 640 highway patrol officers have been sent to Los Angeles. Additionally, nearly 400 additional CHP Special Response Team officers have been deployed to aid law enforcement. "There's hundreds of state troopers [and] highway patrolmen that are deployed in both the Bay Area and particularly in Los Angeles," Johnson said. "[They] are working very long hours, anywhere from 16 to 20 hours a day, trying to keep the peace down there. It's been a very dangerous situation." Los Angeles police have made more than 500 arrests related to protest activity, with the most serious charges ranging from assault against police officers to possession of a Molotov cocktail and gun, according to the police department. Nine police officers have been injured in the protests, with the majority being minor injuries. The LAPD and CHP did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. Several CHP cars were damaged along the 101 Freeway as officers tried to clear protesters from the road, marking yet another assault on law enforcement operations in the midst of the riots. "I witnessed one of our officers get hit in the head with a rock," Johnson said. "Had he not had his helmet and mask on, [there is] no doubt in my mind he would have been killed. It smacked him right in the face and he was actually pulled to safety by an [officer] I know very well." While on the ground, CHP officers are faced with the task of identifying in real-time who is following the law and who is looking to break it, a situation that Johnson called "very difficult." "The persons that are down there participating in their First Amendment rights are quickly overtaken by these bad actors that are definitely in the crowd," Johnson told Fox News Digital. "There's a significant amount of them in the crowd, and it really takes over the peaceful protests that there are hundreds of people participating in. It really turns these into bad situations where now we have to decide who's a peaceful protester and who is a bad actor." Johnson believes the answer to ensuring the safety of both law enforcement and demonstrators who may be acting peacefully is by civilians reporting sightings of violent protesters to police. "It's time to start turning these people in," Johnson said. "It's time to start recording them, getting information for the crimes that you see committed and turning them in to the police." The call for cooperation between peaceful protesters and law enforcement comes as an appeals court blocked a federal judge's decision forcing President Donald Trump to return control over National Guard troops to California last Thursday. Trump has deployed more than 4,000 Guard soldiers to Los Angeles, along with roughly 700 Marines, Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman said. The appeals court declined to rule on the status of the Marines, since they had not taken to the streets yet. In a post on Truth Social, Trump thanked the appeals court for its ruling, writing: "If I didn't send the Military into Los Angeles, that city would be burning to the ground right now." Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom continue to clash in a legal battle over control of the National Guard and the troops' role in the riots. The Guard has been sent to protect federal property and accompany officials on immigration raids. While the troops do have the ability to temporarily detain people who attack officers, any arrests must be made by law enforcement. "As far as the interaction with [the National Guard], I haven't seen any interaction with them," Johnson said. "For the three or four nights I was out there, I didn't see any National Guard. I saw what [was] on the news. They're guarding federal facilities, but they haven't been integrated with any of us." Johnson leads a union that represents approximately 7,000 patrolmen deployed throughout the state. However, he points to staffing shortages caused by attractive retirement packages, leaving a gaping hole in the department's headcount. "We're almost down one thousand bodies for highway patrolmen in California," Johnson said, adding, "We have a really hard time filling in the positions." As the anti-ICE protests stretch into their second week, law enforcement throughout Los Angeles is bracing for the unknown. "When you're out there and it's a very dangerous situation, you don't think about the politics or your personal politics," Johnson said. "Cops are very good at that. I've been around these guys for decades and they're my brothers and sisters. And I know they're very, very good people. And although they might have their personal views, it doesn't spill over into these situations."
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
LAPD sergeant charged with DUI, hit-and-run in deadly off-duty collision in Orange County
Prosecutors in Orange County filed charges Wednesday against a Los Angeles Police Department officer who, while off-duty and reportedly drinking earlier this year, allegedly struck a 19-year-old pedestrian and left him to die in the street, officials said. Carlos Gonzalo Coronel, 40, of Buena Park, who serves as a sergeant in the LAPD, is charged with DUI causing death and hit-and-run involving a fatality, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office. He also faces a sentence-enhancing special allegation of causing great bodily injury. The crash took place during the early morning hours of Feb. 1 in the area of Nisson Road and DelAmo Avenue in Tustin. Coronel was at the wheel of a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck " after a night of drinking with his brother-in-law" when the collision took place about 3:40 a.m. He struck and fatally injured 19-year-old Imanol Salvador Gonzalez of Tustin, who was walking in the street, according to a district attorney's office statement. "Coronel, who was on his way to his girlfriend's home, is accused of not stopping his truck to see what he hit," the statement said. "He did not call 911. Two people who were on their way home from work that morning found Gonzalez's body lying in the middle of Nisson Road a few minutes later and called police." Rather than stopping to help, and despite significant front-end damage to his truck, Coronel is accused of driving to his girlfriend's house, "leaving the man to die in the street," the statement said. Colonel later had his girlfriend drive him back to his home in Buena Park, prosecutors said. He allegedly directed her to avoid the street where the young man had been struck. "In the hours after Gonzalez was killed, Coronel is also accused of searching the Internet to see if there had been a fatal hit and run in Tustin," the statement said. "Coronel is also accused of driving by the Tustin Police Department crime scene where officers were investigating Gonzalez' death but not alerting officers to the fact that he had been in a collision at that same intersection." If convicted as charged, Colonel could face up to 6 years and 8 months in state prison. Coronel had a prior DUI conviction in 2011, ABC Los Angeles reported at the time of the collision. Under California law, drivers are eligible to be charged with murder if involved in a subsequent DUI that results in a death. But the district attorney's office did not seek murder or manslaughter charges. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said the Colonel should have known better. "Our law enforcement officers are entrusted with the highest level of public trust, and it is unconscionable thatan officer who swore an oath to protect and serve would leave a man to die in the street after hitting him whiledriving under the influence of alcohol," he said. "Imanol was loved by his family, and he did not deserve to have his story end lying in the middle of a dark Tustin street alone while the police officer who hit him drove away because his self-preservation was more important than a human life," according to Spitzer. An arraignment hearing was scheduled for June 27 in Orange County Superior Court. In the meantime, Colonel was not in Orange County Sheriff's Department custody, records show. This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: LAPD sergeant charged in deadly off-duty collision in Orange County
